Safe paint?

[fliberdygibits]

I have found patchy information that indicate that certain enamel or epoxy paints would be safe for INSIDE a tank. Anyone know if this is true? Or if not, is there ANY kind of paint that would be? I also have heard that Krylon's plastic paint would work, someone even said THEY were using it. If that's the case, does anyone know about OTHER brands' plastic paint like Rustoleum?

Thanks.

[RobinsonFam1]

i would stick with others experience here. i am going to paint acrylic rather than buy it colored (colors cost about 3x the price of clear). i have heard many good things about krylon in a tank. otherwise you would want to use a food grade epoxy.
these are the only ones i know about.
let us know how it goes!

[fliberdygibits]

The only problem I have is that the acrylic I'm trying to paint is already in the tank, and can't be removed. Because of this I'm trying to find a non-aresol paint as I am confident that I can protect my tank inhabitants well enough.

The section of the tank to be painted is on the inside of a custom overflow that can be drained while the rest of the tank continues to run. I just need to drain it, tape off the rest of the tank COMPLETELY and dry it out, then go to town. I may do that with the krylon plastic spray paint too if I can't find anything else, I just need to be 9 kinds of retentive if I do it that way.

I'm going to probably try that next week sometime, I will let everyone know, maybe post some pictures if I can.

Oh, P.S. - the side I am painting is the non-viewing side. In other words you will be looking through the clear side of the acrylic at the "back side" of the painted surface. I think the Krylon Plastic paint says to rough up the surface first, but if I do that it will make it look terrible (I think). Does it HAVE to be scratched up or will it just make it peel faster if you don't?

Thanks

[Kevin1000]

You might try the garf.org website - as I recall they have a section about DIY plywood tank building which discusses using epoxy paint on the interior.

[Geoff]

i have used spary paint on some of my PVC pipes i put in the tank.i let it dry for several days before putting in the the tank though. have not used epoxy paint on anything but my boat so do not know about how safe it is for tank use.

G~

[wasabi]

WHY NOT CUT A SMALL PIECE OF COLORED ACRYLIC to fit and cement it to the inside?

[fliberdygibits]

same reason I ddin't use colored in the first place..... I could get clear for 5 bucks or the same sheet colored for about 45

[wasabi]

i believe you are limited to an acrylic finish over an acrylic product . i would not count on any finish bonding for any length of time in a high flow area. thier are some two part acrylic polymers. the toughest paint and the only one suitable for your application is a polyester urethane...but it will fail eventually. and i am not sure of leaching problems.

[ruhspolostar]

sorry to steal the thread but what safe paints could I use to paint some starboard before putting it in my tank

[wasabi]

two part acrylic polymer...polyester urethane

[wasabi]

to put it bluntly if you start spraying krylon aroun living organisms you are going to kill ****